


False Imprint

by BlueNeutrino



Category: Dollhouse, Supernatural
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-10
Updated: 2013-10-10
Packaged: 2017-12-28 23:24:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/998145
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlueNeutrino/pseuds/BlueNeutrino
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Ezekiel departs, Paul Ballard is left lying in a hospital bed wondering how he got there, and immediately suspects the Dollhouse. Super-quick ficlet post SPN S9 premiere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	False Imprint

**Author's Note:**

> Because of Tahmoh Penikett and the way the episode ended, I'm headcanoning that Ballard is Ezekiel's vessel. (If you shuffle the timelines round a bit. It could work for late season two of Dollhouse? Or post finale if you assume that they actually manage to prevent the apocalyptic scenario of Epitaph 2? Basically, what I imagine the timeline would have been if the show had gone at the pace Joss Whedon intended rather than having to cram six seasons into two, so Ballard is working for Rossum at this point after they've had to do the coma-brain-reconstruction-thing.

When Adelle picked up the phone, the voice on the other end wasn't one she'd been expecting to hear, but that only made it come as more of a relief.

"DeWitt?"

"Ballard?" She tried to keep the surprise out of her voice, but after the anxiety his recent disappearance had caused her, she couldn't quite hide how pleased she was to hear from him. It would be worrying for any boss to have their employee disappear without explanation, but especially so for an organisation such as the Dollhouse where secrecy was of the utmost importance, so she was thankful that he'd finally made contact. Her next sentence, however, quickly masked that in a much harsher tone. "Where are you?"

"I don't know." She noticed that he sounded stressed, and somewhat angry. "I've just woken up in a hospital god knows where and I can't remember how I got here, so you tell me, Adelle. Did you imprint me?"

"No," she answered him sharply, "if you've been imprinted, it most certainly wasn't on my orders." His accusations were met with a stern put down, but already they were posing more questions about what had happened to him, and that wasn't a good thing. "We've been trying to track you down since last night. It may be that a rival Dollhouse got to you and you've been imprinted and remote wiped, although I can't guess for what purpose."

"Well you ask Topher what he's been playing around with," he snapped back, "because last thing I remember is agreeing to help him with something, and now I keep getting random thoughts of angels and some guy called Ezekiel flashing through my head. This feels like some effed up imprint gone wrong. If he's been using me as a guinea pig to experiment on…"

"Ballard," she cut him off, "Although I allow Topher a few indulgences, if he were to attempt anything of that nature behind my back, I think he knows it would be the last thing he would ever do. Now get a grip. We need you to come in and sort this out, so tell me where you are."

At the other end of the line, Ballard gritted his teeth and glanced around for some indication as to where he was. There was a poster stuck on the wall nearby the payphone with the name of the hospital printed on it, which he relayed to her. "Linwood Memorial Hospital, Randolph, New York."

"Alright," she said curtly once he'd finished. "Stay where you are. I'll send a handler to come and collect you." She didn't offer him any kind of reassurance that things would be okay or that they'd sort this out, but he was an adult, and he didn't need it. Adelle hung up and immediately made the call for the handler to go and fetch him, ensuring the situation was dealt with as quickly and efficiently as possible. There were a lot of questions to be answered, but she'd get to the bottom of it.

Many miles away, an angel's vessel named Paul Ballard waited in a corridor full of broken glass, wondering what the hell had happened and not knowing any more than DeWitt did that this would be one mystery they wouldn't solve.


End file.
